


Welcome to Star Cafe

by lost_things



Category: Monsta X (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Baristas, Cute, Fluff, I'm Bad At Tagging, No Slash, One Shot Collection, Shorts, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-03
Updated: 2016-10-07
Packaged: 2018-08-19 06:07:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,275
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8193133
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lost_things/pseuds/lost_things
Summary: AU where the MX boys are servers, baristas and managers of Star Cafe, which is well known for the pretty boy employees. Series of one shots starting with the day that Changkyun is hired as a new barista.





	1. First day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Changkyun's first day

                The manager of the popular little café sighed as he sized up his newest employee. The blank faced young man looked somewhat nervous; Hyunwoo didn’t have much in terms of applicants and Kihyun had thrown enough temper tantrums after hours that he picked the first one who looked like a hard worker. They had been short-handed since they had to get rid of a few employees for not fitting in well with the idea of the café.

                The short brunette – he was maybe the same height as Kihyun? – did work at another store before, at least. Kihyun seemed satisfied when he grilled him about how to make the different drinks during the interview. He even looked mildly impressed at the latte that the younger man made. If there was one thing that Kihyun was picky about, it was a latte. The man could wax poetic about a well-made latte.

                “Do you have any questions?” Hyungwoo asked. He always felt slightly awkward around new employees.

                “Mostly about stuff behind the counter,” he said in a surprisingly deep voice for the youthful face. “I’m guessing Kihyun will teach me?”

                Hyungwoo nodded. He could hear the other employees filing in for work for the day. Kihyun was humming some sort of new pop song that was popular on the radio, and Hoseok was singing along with him. “I think Kihyun just got here. He’ll get you settled in. Break is every three hours, and coordinate with Kihyung before you go on break.”

                Changkyun nodded. “Thanks, boss.”

                The tall man made a shooing motion. He needed to work on balancing the books and Kihyun had said that he wanted to train Changkyun immediately.

 

                Changkyun sighed heavily as he braced himself to meet the other employees. He had heard that the servers weren’t happy about the fact that they hired someone new rather than train one of them up to be barista. It was a slightly higher pay rate and much easier on the feet.

                He hadn’t heard much about Star Café until an ex of his talked about it. She had gushed about how good looking the servers were, and how cute and sweet the host was. He needed a new job and applied. He had been surprised that the manager called him in for an interview. The other barista – Kihyun, he learned later – had grilled him about how to make the different drinks and asked for a latte at the end.

                The host was very nice, he remembered. The young man – probably a few years older than him – had smiled at him brightly when he came in for the interview a week ago. He was also the one who showed him where the small break room was and gave him the best places to get the uniform. Changkyun tried to remember his name, but he could really only remember the bright shock of white hair.

                The short man who was the barista was getting his apron on, still humming whatever tune he was singing with another one of the employees. He had a crop of baby pink hair that was long on top and buzzed short at the undercut. It contrasted with his sharp, fox like eyes and high cheekbones. He had a stern look on his face unless he was smiling. Changkyun didn’t like guys, but he can acknowledge that the other had a nice smile.

                The smile popped up. “Ah, you’re here,” he said in a light tenor. “Are you ready for the morning rush?”

                Changkyun shrugged. “It can’t be worse than downtown,” he said. “I worked at a big chain for about two years.”

                Kihyun made a noncommittal noise as he handed Changkyun one of the black aprons. The baristas wore black aprons and the servers wore white along with crisp white button downs and neat black slacks. Changkyun raised an eyebrow at the apron as he tied it around his waist with long practice.

                “We switched over to black once Shownu realized that he’s sending my aprons out for laundering more often than anyone else’s,” Kihyun muttered, almost embarrassed. “You can use one of my spares until Shownu orders more.”

                “Shownu?”

                “Ah, our fearless leader. I don’t know where that nickname came from, to be honest,” Kihyun replied as he started wiping down the already spotless counters. Changkyun noticed that the area behind the bar was freakishly neat and everything was in its place.

                During the hour before the café actually opened, they went through the quirks of their espresso machine and how to make some of their specialties. Changkyun found Kihyun to be a patient teacher despite his outward prickliness. The servers occasionally came by to introduce themselves and beg Kihyun to make them a drink. The pink haired man grumbled as he foamed milk and pulled the espresso shots.

                “Don’t let these assholes get more than two drinks per shift, by the way,” Kihyun muttered as he mixed a mocha for Minhyuk, the host. The white haired man was leaning against the counter, his hair mussed and the light pink bow tie slightly askew. “Some of them shouldn’t be allowed caffeine at all.”

                “Aie, don’t be mean, Kihyunnie,” the host almost whined.

                “I’m not being mean, I’m just telling him the rules,” Kihyun replied with a smirk. “The worst offender is Wonho, I think.”

                “He’s the reason why we are only allowed two drinks per shift,” Minhyuk whispered in almost a conspiratorial manner. “Thanks, Kihyun!”

                “Adjust your tie!”

                He not quite skipped off with his drink in hand to help the servers roll more silverware up in napkins. The three servers were chatting quietly as they prepared for the day. From Kihyun’s running commentary, he guessed that the redhead was Jooheon, the brunette was Hyungwon and the silvery haired man was Hoseok, though he preferred Wonho for some reason.

                The servers were all fairly good looking in their own way, Hyungwon being the most obvious pretty boy of the three. Changkyun was surprised that Jooheon was a server, given how mean he looked. He must have made the comment out loud because Kihyun arched an eyebrow at him.

                “He usually ends up with the male customers, but he still gets his fan girls. The girls love his _aegyo_ for some reason,” Kihyun said as he rinsed the steaming cup he used for Minhyuk’s mocha. “Don’t ever ask him to do it.”

                “Is it that bad?”

                Kihyun gave him a meaningful look. “It’s that bad.”

                “Café is opening in ten, guys!” Hyunwoo called out from his office. His deep voice made most of them jump. “There better be three hundred napkins rolled.”

                There was a loud noise of protest from the servers as they frantically started speeding up their pace. Kihyun sighed as he poured a cup of coffee. “Go help them. I’m going to give this to grumpy over there so he won’t make us stay late.”

               

                Hoseok smiled brightly at the two girls who were giggling behind their hands while he took down their order. The café had opened not that long ago and there was already a steady stream of customers as it was the weekend.

                He looked over at the new barista. The kid looked like he was settling in nicely and there wasn’t a lot of shouting from Kihyun, which was a good sign. Jooheon was one of the ones who grumbled the loudest at the news but even he couldn’t find fault with the new kid. He made the drinks efficiently and even kept the area relatively clean.

                Minhyuk was skillfully steering another set of customers over to his area. The host was good at distributing the clients evenly in the three sitting areas. Some of the regulars usually request their favorite server. Hyunwoo and Kihyun on occasion would come out from the safety of their respective areas to serve an especially good client. It took a lot for Hyunwoo to come out of his office, though; Hoseok had only ever seen it happen once and it took a lot of cajoling on Minhyuk’s part for it to happen.

                Hoseok dropped off the new order and went to the newcomers. They were two young men, which was slightly unusual for the café. One of them had a shock of bright red hair, rounded cheeks and a pointed chin. He was looking over the menu while playing with one of his many silver rings. The other had dark blond hair that stuck out from underneath a black beanie. He was tapping his fingers restlessly on his thighs as he watched his friend.

                “Hello! Welcome to Star Café,” Hoseok said cheerfully. “What would you like today?”

                “Can I get an Americano?” the blond asked in a husky voice.

                “One Americano... and for you, sir?”

                “Peach tea, please, and two pieces of cake.”

                He smiled as he took down the order. It was rare for him to get male customers, as they usually requested Jooheon for his easy going manner and the comradery. The youngest of the servers was usually wearing some sort of snap back and he had a more casual look to his uniform. The guys who ended up in his area were boyfriends of the girls who wanted to come to the café. These two must be new, as they didn’t look familiar at all.

                Kihyun looked at him as he walked up to the counter again to drop off the slip. For how hectic things were, the pink haired man was keeping his cool. “Busy?”

                “Fairly. I think Hyungwon has more people in his area right now,” he said with a sigh, leaning his elbows on the counter. “How’s the new kid doing?”

                The shorter man shrugged as he got Hyungwon’s orders ready; each server got their own tray color to avoid confusion with how quickly the orders went in and out. Changkyun was managing a lot of Hoseok’s for the day. “He’s fine so far. No complaints from me.”

                Hoseok was surprised; that was high praise from Kihyun if there was such thing as praise from the man. The barista was very particular about how things were done.

                As the coffee was being poured, Hoseok pulled the pastries that were ordered from the case. They had started a partnership with a local bakery recently and the items were a hit, the cake in particular. The owner of the bakery had done his delivery earlier in the day before the servers got there.

                “Ah, Wonho, can you pull a chocolate cheesecake and a strawberry for me?” Hyungwon asked as he approached.

                Hoseok nodded and pulled the cake that the younger server asked for. Hyungwon had been at the café for nearly as long as Hoseok and the two of them got along well. He was quiet and reserved at work for the most part, but Hoseok had seen him get into odd giggling fits over silly things. The clients liked him because of his model like feature and tall, slender build.

                “How is it going so far?”

                Hyungwon shrugged. “Same as usual. You?”

                “About the same. Kihyun is nearly done with some of your trays, by the way.”

                The younger clucked his tongue and thanked the older server, rushing off to collect the drinks. Hoseok was about to call out after the other server about the cheesecake but just left them on the counter. Kihyun didn’t like it when people didn’t collect their orders right away.

                The rest of the morning went by in a blur. He was on his lunch break when the younger barista stumbled into the breakroom with a sandwich from the staff fridge. The door always got a little stuck and needed some sort of hard shove. Changkyun blushed slightly before picking up the cup he had set on the floor. Hoseok recognized the slightly messy handwriting on the label and smiled.

                “Nice, Kihyunnie made you a sandwich?”

                “Yeah, I guess,” the brunette said as he looked around. There was only one table. He looked slightly awkward.

                “Sit down and eat. There’s a post-lunch rush coming up and Kihyun will bitch if he had to do it on his own on your first day,” Hoseok said around his own mouthful of food, kicking the other chair out from under the table gently.

                The younger sat down and bowed his head in thanks before tearing into his own. Hoseok watched him eat. He ate quickly with somewhat decent manners from the looks of it.

                “How do you like your first day so far?”

                “It’s been okay. Kihyun is pretty nice.”

                Hoseok barked out a laugh. “You think Kihyun is nice? I mean he is, just don’t leave the back counter messy. He tore one of the old baristas to pieces for leaving everything a mess.”

                Changkyun chewed slower. “But he looks so….”

                “Nice? It’s the pink hair. Shownu told him to try a different hair color because he was scaring everyone before.”

                “Pink?”

                “The female clients voted for it. His face looked like it does when one of the girls asked him to do _aegyo_ that one time.”

                “What did that look like,” Changkyun asked, finally cracking a smile.

                Hoseok did an exaggerated imitation of Kihyun’s distressed look. Changkyun started laughing at Hoseok’s expression. The server smiled to himself. This kid was going to be all right.

                Customers kept filing in and out of the café, some of the regulars coming in to flirt and get some coffee. Before he knew it, they were closing down the café for the night. Kihyun was barking orders at Changkyun on how to clean up and where things went. The servers were taking turns running the last load of the dishes, as their kitchen helper had left early for an appointment. All of them were taking turns eating the shift meal as they cleaned.

                Hyunwoo was counting and divvying up the tips for the day. Most of the clients tipped well for the day and everyone walked home with an extra bit of cash. Hoseok saw Hyunwoo pat the younger barista on the back with a brief smile.

                All in all, it was a good day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I blame this entirely on the Moncafe video they did for White Day and needing some fluff in my writing. I had to do some rearranging of the roles to kind of best suit the boy's personalities. Just pure fluff, nothing serious or angst.


	2. Kigurumi Safari day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Where Minhyuk comes up with a great idea.

“You want me to wear _what?!”_

                Hyunwoo looked up at the clock. It was barely seven am and Kihyun was about ready to launch into another temper tantrum. It was one that he had been expecting since Minhyuk suggested this event a while back.

                It wasn’t their normal fanservice style, he had to admit, but he knew that it would garner a lot of attention and get a lot of clients in. The one thing that had made them hesitate originally was how the staff would react. They knew something was up when Hyunwoo sent them a text last night, asking them not to add product to their hair and just wear teeshirts, shorts and comfortable casual shoes to work.

                Kihyun was predictable; the short man – he was not the shortest _thankyouverymuch_ – may be all smiles and twinkly eyes in front of customers, but he despised _aegyo_ with a fiery burning passion despite his naturally cute mannerisms. When pressed, he always resorted to the _gwiyomi_ that was popular a few years back.

                He still had the recording of the first time he made Kihyun practice some _aegyo_. It was pure blackmail material.

                Hoseok and Jooheon were usually better sports about Minhyuk’s more harebrained schemes; Hoseok liked the client attention and had his own limits. Hyunwoo wasn’t quite sure where the limits were yet, but they were there somewhere. Jooheon had his own special brand of _aegyo_ and wasn’t afraid to do it when people asked.

                However, even he probably balked at having to serve the whole day in a Bee kigurumi.

                “Come on, it was what the clients voted for,” Minhyuk’s voice said in a wheedling tone.

                “Are you serious? They think I’m a goddamn hamster?”

                “Have you seen the way you eat? You stuff your cheeks full in front of clients.” That was Hoseok.

                “Can you blame me? Whenever someone gives me food I’m working! I need both hands free!”

                “At least yours isn’t pink. _Pink._ Minhyukie, did you have to get a pink rabbit?”

                “That was all they had left,” the white haired man said meekly.

                Hyunwoo chuckled to himself. The others still hadn’t caught on with how manipulative Minhyuk actually could be. It was why he usually delegated the theme days to him to execute, because people almost always did what Minhyuk wanted in the end.

                It wasn’t that he was malicious; not at all. He didn’t have a mean bone in his body. It was that he would have the world’s saddest puppy dog eyes if someone said no to him. Minhyuk was probably using them on Kihyun, as Hyunwoo heard the disgruntled noise that Kihyun liked to make when he was giving in.

                “FINE. I will wear the goddamn kigu!”

                “Great! Here’s the nametag that goes with it.”

                “ _THEY’RE FUCKING CALLING ME HAMMJI?!”_

**

 

                Minhyuk was happy for several reasons.

                The first of which was that the kigurumi day was a hit. Many of the clients were squealing happily when they saw their favorite employee in the animal outfit of their choice. He had so many selca requests that he had to start turning them down in order to work.

                The second of which was that the boys were actually keeping their kigus on. Kihyun had put up the longest fight about the damn things, but even he admitted that it was more comfortable than their normal attire, especially since it was an oddly cold day. The hamster kigurumi did suit him very well.

                The third of which was that Hyunwoo, his best friend and partner in crime, was actually on the floor for once.

                Minhyuk had ambushed Hyunwoo with the black kigurumi after the others started changing. The tall, slightly awkward and mostly silent manager shook his head vehemently, citing that he had a lot of paperwork to do.

                The white haired man knew exactly how much the tall brunette had left and he knew that it was inventory day. Inventory days were probably Hyunwoo’s easiest days, as he kept impeccable records. He said as much and turned his best weapon on his friend.

                Even Hyunwoo was helpless against the puppy dog eyes. Especially when Minhyuk was wearing a dog kigurumi already.

                Yes, it was a good day, the man smiled to himself as he watched Hyunwoo navigate through the crowds with his oddly delicate grace. He did, however, regret the big pink bow he had asked Changkyun to tie around his neck. The damn thing kept flopping into his face in the most annoying way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please tell me that I'm not the only one who's been watching the MonX for MonBebe Safari video. Please. It's so ridiculous and on crack and I love it.


	3. Maid and Butler day (pt 1)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Where Kihyun hates the Notebook of Terror.

                For the most part, Kihyun did enjoy working at the Star Café. The hours were easy enough, he always got a lot of tips without having to really do much client interaction and Hyunwoo was a good boss. The tall brunette may not say much for the most part, but they had a mutual understanding.

                Kihyun worked hard and in return, Hyunwoo would keep Minhyuk from enacting too many crazy, embarrassing fan service ideas. It was a very simple deal. Very simple. It was so simple that it crazy fan service like Kigurumi Day should never have had happened.

                (Kihyun is never going to admit that he wore the kigurumi at home when it was cold. Never, ever, _ever.)_

                But there were times where Kihyun swore that Hyunwoo purposefully let Minhyuk run amok just to torture his employees.

                Hyunwoo had sent a text out asking Hyungwon, Minhyuk and Kihyun to get to the café half an hour earlier than their typical start time. Kihyun found it odd; the boss never usually asked him to come early unless there was some big event. That should have been his first clue.

                The second clue should have been the crew setting up a small stage across the way from the café. He ignored it as he hummed along to the newest track his favorite band released.

                The third clue should have been the sight of Hyungwon, sitting in the break room and looking like he had seen death. When pressed, the younger man had simply pointed at the clothing rack that normally held their themed clothing. Kihyun squinted at the garments. They were black and white, for the most part; nothing too dissimilar to what they wore normally. Then he noticed that his name, along with Hyungwon and Minhyuk’s, were written in Minhyuk’s neat handwriting above one side. Changkyun, Hoseok and Jooheon’s names were on the other. The garments on his side of the rack were in bags, and looked suspiciously puffy.

                He pulled one of the bags down and unzipped it. After he saw the contents, he swore up and down that he was going to kill Minhyuk if it was the last thing he would do.

                No wonder Hyungwon looked traumatized.        

                With the garment still in his hand, Kihyun stomped over to Hyunwoo’s office, where he could hear Minhyuk giggling like a maniac. He gritted his teeth and pushed the door open.

                Minhyuk was standing behind Hyunwoo, both hands on the shoulders in an attempt to use the tall, broad shouldered man as a shield.

                “Please tell me that this was a large elaborate joke to scare Hyungwon,” the short man said, dropping the dress on to Hyunwoo’s desk.

                The manager arched an eyebrow, breaking his mask for once. He picked up the wrinkled dress and Minhyuk made a distressed noise at the sight of the wrinkled fabric. “Kihyunnie! I ironed those last night!”

                “The clients voted for maids and butlers this time around,” Hyunwoo said, pulling out the Notebook of Terror.

                (It wasn’t really called the Notebook of Terror. Kihyun secretly nicknamed it after realizing that it was where Hyunwoo faithfully transcribed all of the stupid ideas from the stupid suggestion box that clients wanted to see.)

                (He really wanted to burn that notebook.)

                (Hyunwoo kept it locked up though.)

                “The clients even wrote down who they wanted to see wear what clothing,” Minhyuk said brightly. “I found really cute dresses for us!”

                Kihyun narrowed his eyes and thought about what to say next.

                Hyunwoo cut him off before he could raise a protest. “You only need to do the maid thing for a thirty-minute photo op,” he said, pulling out his notebook. “The girls realized that the dresses will probably interfere with working in the back for you, so they only really requested that Minhyuk and Hyungwon stay in the dresses during the work shift and you can be in the butler uniform the rest of the time. Yours should be in the garment bag with the dress.”

                Kihyun perked up. That was more like it.

                “But you have to personally serve fifteen people at the special table,” Minhyuk piped up. “That was the other request. You have a lot of fan girls, Kihyunnie.”

                The blond pursed his lips (the pink was finally gone hallelujah). He hadn’t enjoyed his time as a server and counted his blessings that he pulled a mean espresso. He was just too clumsy and there were way too many requests for _aegyo_ for his liking.

                (Though he did like it when people flirted with him. That part about serving he did miss.)

                “Fine. Deal. When do I need to wear the stupid dress?”

                “Change at noon. The advertised time for the maid photo op is at half past and you can go back to your normal clothes at one,” Hyunwoo replied.

                Kihyun nodded and wandered back into the breakroom. Hyungwon hadn’t moved much from where Kihyun left him less than ten minutes ago. He looked up hopefully at his senior.

                “You’re stuck,” the shorter man said with a grin. “The girls really wanted to see you in a maid uniform, for some reason. I guess you’re pretty enough.”

                “How come you weaseled your way out of it,” the younger grumbled as he stood up to go to the rack.

                “I still have to wear it for half an hour,” Kihyun muttered as he looked in the garment bag with his name on it. Sure enough, there was a grey waistcoat and a morning coat hanging on the other hanger. With long practice, he removed his regular black bow – not a bowtie. A goddamn bow – and replaced it with the black tie that was on the hanger.

                He looked at Hyungwon. The server was looking at the frilly monstrosity with a mild amount of distaste and a large amount of confusion and horror. Kihyun had to bite the inside of his cheek from laughing.

                Minhyuk finally returned to the break room and between the two of them, they figured out what the petticoat was and what layer went where. Hyungwon stood there with a long suffering expression, as he was used to getting dressed at his job as a part time model. It was less of a maid uniform and more of a Lolita dress. The only saving grace was that Minhyuk included a pair of flats rather than heels. Hyungwon was tall enough as it was; he didn’t need heels.

                “Cute,” Kihyun said sarcastically. Minhyuk was clapping happily at how Hyungwon looked.

                The younger man scowled. Or at least, he scowled the best he could while wearing an obnoxiously frilly maid outfit. The length would have been prim on someone shorter than Hyungwon, but the skirt hit him roughly mid-tigh, exposing a long expanse of sock clad legs.

                It took Kihyun all he had not to die of laughter at the sight of his friend in a maid outfit.

**

 

                If Kigurumi day was considered a success, Maid and Butler day was already setting records. Thanks to Minhyuk’s clever advertising on social media, the café had a line around the corner before the doors were even open. Kihyun had been surprised at how popular the cross dressing was, but Hyungwon was raking in tips from his customers and even Minhyuk joined in on the serving, forcing Hyunwoo in his butler uniform to take over the host duties.

                Minhyuk and Hyungwon were spinning like frilly chrysanthemums amidst the chaos. Jooheon and Hoseok were looking quite dapper in their own uniforms, cutting across the crowds and attracting attention despite the black and grey clothing.

                Changkyun kept having to open new bags of espresso beans and new bottles of syrup and grinding the beans, as Kihyun was frantically frothing milk and pulling shots while trying to keep everything straight for the orders.

                “Boss!” Changkyun yelled out in a surprisingly loud voice. “Can you come here?”

                “Yeah?” Hyunwoo said in his typical delayed reaction manner. Even he was getting flustered at the crowd.

                “Can we call in reinforcements?”

                Hyunwoo sighed. It was clear that he didn’t want to but it was only ten in the morning. Kihyun looked at him meaningfully, as if he was trying to say that he didn’t want to leave an almost newbie behind the counter alone with this crowd while he changed.

                Hell, he didn’t even want to be behind the counter alone with this crowd and he was the king of multitasking.

                “Fine. I’ll call in a buddy of mine. He works in another shop and I think it’s his day off. Kihyun, you’re going to have to switch into the maid uniform early since we don’t have a spare and he’s about your size.”

                “Will he be okay wearing the uniform?”

                Kihyun had a brilliant idea all of a sudden. “Shownu, I’ll call my friend. He owes me a few dozen favors since I do vocal work for him, and he’s pretty enough to wear the costume. He’ll look better than me and I’ll do thirty special customers.”

                Hyunwoo waved his hand, going back to the front of the café to greet new customers. “Do whatever you need to. Tell him that he’ll get a tip percentage for helping out.”

                Kihyun cackled as he pulled out his phone to text his friend, Yoongi. He caught a concerned look on Changkyun’s face out of the corner of his eye. He smiled at his friend with a wolfish grin. If anything it made Changkyun look ever more concerned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Special guest in part II. 
> 
> Kihyun's POV was super fun to write, especially when I went with Snarky Kihyun. It doesn't hurt that he's my bias.


	4. Maid and Butler Day (part II)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yoongi wears a dress.

                It didn’t take long; Minhyuk spotted the short blond haired man Kihyun told him to keep an eye out for since he was closer to the door. Minhyuk pursed his lips and studied the bleach blond; he was dressed in ripped jeans, a hoodie that almost swallowed him whole and boots. His hands were stuffed in the kangaroo pocket of his hoodie, his face stoic as he took in the large crowd. Despite all of that, Minhyuk could see that he had a slender frame.

                Which was good; the dress that he had picked out for Kihyun only had the one size left and the barista’s shoulders may have been too broad for it. Kihyun was right; he was pretty in a delicate, fey sort of way, and would look better in the dress than Kihyun would.

                Minhyuk waved at Hoseok, getting his attention. He pointed at Kihyun’s friend and pointed to the break room. Kihyun had warned them not to let Yoongi get too close of a glimpse at Minhyuk and Hyungwon before they got him into the breakroom. They decided to have Hoseok run interference rather than Hyunwoo. Their manager had a bad tendency of saying things out right.

                When asked how he was going to be sure that Yoongi will cooperate and wear the dress, Kihyun merely grinned.

                “Ah, are you Kihyun’s friend?” he heard Hoseok ask. “Do you have serving experience?”

                “Yeah, I did some restaurant work a while back. He said that you guys need help with serving or something for theme day. I can see why he called. Nice coat, by the way.”

                “We have a uniform for you too, in our break room. Just follow me and I’ll send Kihyun in.”

                The short man shrugged and followed Hoseok towards the break room. Kihyun spotted the two of them and followed Yoongi in. Minhyuk was curious, given Kihyun’s cautions. He looked around; it was finally a little bit calmer as they all got used to the rush. He pressed an ear against the door and was a little concerned when he heard a muffled string of swear words as well as the familiar sound of Kihyun’s laughter.

                He frowned. That was Kihyun’s I am way too fucking happy about what is happening laugh. Kihyun had several laughs where he threw his head back in sheer amusement, eyes scrunched into crescents. This one was the one where he was probably against a wall, sliding down to the floor.

                There were several bumps, more swearing and more muffled threats before Yoongi emerged in the frilly navy blue dress that Minyuk had picked out for Kihyun specifically. The ruffled headband was slightly askew. A small part of him was satisfied at the fact that his eye was right; the dress fit Yoongi perfectly. The other part was horrified at the fact that he was still next to the door when Yoongi bumped into him as he stomped out of the room. His face was still fixed in a scowl.

                “I’m Minhyuk!” he said, pulling up his sweetest possible smile. _Holyshithe’sgoingtokillme._

                “So you’re the one who thought of this idea.” His voice was set in a gravely snarl. It was such a contrast to the frilly dress that Minhyuk wanted to laugh, but didn’t in fear of getting killed.

                “No, I just got the dresses,” Minhyuk corrected, handing over a pad and paper and fixing the headband. “Your trays will be the black ones at the bar.”

                Yoongi raised a questioning eyebrow. “We have different colored trays here to keep track of everyone’s section. The black trays are our backups.”

                The blond stared at him impassively, his arms crossed over his chest. It took Minhyuk all he had not to either cower or to start laughing at the blond. “Do you need anything else?” Minhyuk asked, hoping that he didn’t sound too nervous.

                “When can I kill Kihyun?”

                “Not until the shift is over, unfortunately…”

                As if on cue, Changkyun decided to call for help. “KIHYUN, WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU?” 

                The only response Kihyun could manage from the break room was another bout of helpless laughter.

               

**

 

                Hyunwoo breathed out a sigh of relief after the last customer left and they could finally start closing up. They had made record sales and pulled in more tips than they could ever dream of. At one point, they had run out of chocolate syrup for mochas, and dangerously low on beans. Changkyun and Hoseok had been sent on an emergency supply run while the photo op with the maids happened.

                He hadn’t been sure about the whole theme, but Minhyuk had been right about it. Then again, Minhyuk was almost always right about the themes.

                Some of the girls were disappointed that Kihyun wasn’t wearing the dress, but they were more than happy when they saw Kihyun’s replacement. Yoongi’s stoic expression and his tendency not to flirt had been a big hit with the girls as they tried to get him to smile. The only person who rivaled him was Hyungwon, with his natural prettiness and long legs. Hyunwoo suspected that Minhyuk’s Instagram post had something to do with it.

                His best friend had made a post saying “make the tsundere maid laugh and win free coffee for a week!” with a picture of Yoongi delivering a tray of drinks.

                No one succeeded though. Kihyun had been cracking up with laughter since Yoongi emerged from the break room. He kept his word and served thirty guests at the special table, his eyes twinkling with mirth as he watched Yoongi cross the room with sure movements.

                The blond was not pleased and Hyunwoo, despite only have met him moments after changing into the frilly costume, could tell that he wasn’t pleased. Despite all of that, Yoongi served the customers politely and took selcas with the customers when they requested it. Their regulars had approached Hyunwoo, asking if he was a new employee. Not a few of them looked disappointed when Hyunwoo shook his head and told them that he was only temporary.

                “Can someone get me some painkillers?”

                Hyunwoo saw Hyungwon roll his eyes and went to fetch the first aid kit. Kihyun was sitting on the bar with an ice pack on his eye, as the others were sweeping and mopping the floors and if he was at a table he would get in the way. Yoongi, after changing out of the dress and grabbing a broom to help sweep, had clocked Kihyun with a mean right hook.

                The barista was alternating between scowling, pouting and wincing in pain as Minhyuk fussed over him. The only reason why Kihyun’s eye wasn’t black and blue was the fact that Yoongi wasn’t very muscular. The area around his eye was red and slightly swollen, but it didn’t look too bad. Worst case, Kihyun would just have to apply some make up for his shift the next day.

                “You deserved that,” Hyungwon said as he handed over a bottle of generic non-steroid anti-inflammatory drugs. “I would have done the same, to be totally honest.”

                “It would have been funnier if he had nailed you when he was still in the dress,” Changkyun commented as he wiped the counter around Kihyun’s butt. “ _Hyung_ , can you move? I need to finish cleaning.”

                Kihyun’s scowl deepened as he tiptoed his way through the wet patches – much to the distress of Hoseok who had just mopped the area Kihyun was moving through – to sit on the table next to the one Hyunwoo was at.

                “Can someone at least recognize that I pulled in a good server?” he grumbled. Yoongi looked up from where he was sweeping and glared at his friend.

                Hyunwoo grunted. “Yoongi, you did well today. Can you help out again in the future?”

                “As long as I’m not the one in a fucking dress, sure. You guys have nice customers.”

                “Can we do this again in the future?” Minhyuk asked hopefully. “I think the customers really enjoyed themselves.”

                There was loud refusal from Hyungwon, Changkyun and surprisingly enough, Jooheon. Minhyuk looked at Hyunwoo with pleading eyes. Whenever they did a theme day for the first time, they would vote on if they wanted to do it again in the future. For the most part, everyone agreed if they wanted to do it again. Kigurumi day was a surprising favorite – Kihyun’s objection to it sounded false to everyone – and the last time they did a vampire theme for Halloween they were all happy. If there was a tie amongst the employees, it was up to Hyunwoo.

                The manager looked down at the stack of bills that he finished dividing up. Even after taking the token house portion and splitting off an amount for Yoongi, the piles were absurd.

                He shrugged. “I vote yes. You guys will yell at me if I say no after you count your tips for the night. Take your share and go home. You all did good today.”

                The employees all took their portion, marveling at how generous the customers had been. Hyunwoo smiled to himself as he watched his employees – and friend – wander out of the café after putting up the rest of the cleaning equipment and doing the last checks.

                (It wasn’t that people were more generous than usual. They had tripled the number of customers than usual thanks to Minhyuk.)

                (Speaking of Minhyuk, he deserved a small bonus for pulling in that many customers.)

                (Maybe he’ll let him think of another theme day.)

               

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you Rookie King/end plate king for sticking Yoongi in a maid outfit and MNet for making Kihyun, Hyungwon and Minhyuk wear a maid outfit too. 
> 
> PS i need theme day ideas/situations. If you leave ideas in the comment section, the short with the theme/situation that you suggested will be dedicated to you.
> 
> Fluff only, no angst

**Author's Note:**

> I blame this entirely on the Moncafe video they did for White Day and needing some fluff in my writing. I had to do some rearranging of the roles to kind of best suit the boy's personalities. Just pure fluff, nothing serious or angst.


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